IT’S as much a part of an Evertonian’s matchday ritual as a pre-match pint, the half-time pie or James Alexander Gordon reading the results on Sports Report.

When Skies Are Grey, the 25-year-old, 175-edition Everton fanzine sold its last paper issue last Sunday.

But the eclectic magazine which has offered a platform to a variety of much loved contributors – St Vespaluus, Greg Murphy, The Overseas Correspondent, the late Frank McConville and many more – is not disappearing.

When Skies Are Grey editors Graham Ennis, with son Louis, and Phil Redmond, outside Goodison Park

“Readers will be able to view them on anything they can get a web connection.

“There’ll be no messing about. No waiting for the printer to print them, us to put them in envelopes and post them and for the postman to deliver them.

“And you’ll be able to get access to an archive of past editions.”

It’s a radical step – and one which won’t be universally popular.

When Skies Are Grey

But the long-time producers of the fanzine – Ennis and Phil Redmond – are confident it’s the right decision.

“Sometimes you think ‘Oh my God’ what have we done?” added Graham.

“Then when you get soaked to the skin, like on Sunday, you tell yourself you’ve made the right decision.

“The magazine is actually fine. The way it is now could continue quite happily. But there are two things which really influence sales – and things we have absolutely no control over – the weather and the timing of kick-offs.

“The magazine sells better at 3 o’clock on a Saturday and it sells worst at 12.45. Once the fixtures get moved around we get messed around.

“Then when the home games are two or three weeks apart it also causes difficulty.

“God forbid if we had brought a new issue out at the start of last week!”

So even if the sun is shining, when Everton, under a new manager, kick off the new season on Saturday August 17 – or Sunday August 18, or Monday August 19, at 3 o’clock, 12.45, 1.30, 4 o’clock or 8 o’clock – the hardy sellers will no longer be changing 10 pound notes on the island outside St Luke’s Church, telling occasional visitors “no, it’s not the programme” and fielding the second most popular question they get asked: ‘Have I read that one?’

“I usually answer, ‘No, I don’t think you have’,” smiled Graham.

So what will the sellers do with their newly-found spare time?

“We’ll probably spend a bit longer at home; or maybe enjoy more time in the pub,” added Graham.

“My son Louis is 10 now. It means he can have a fuller match going experience rather than standing there forlornly while we’re selling magazines.

“We’re still going to try and release editions to coincide with matches.

“We can’t release it at 2pm on a Saturday because the WiFi around the ground is rubbish. Unless Everton want to sort that out for us it will probably be on a Friday night in the midpoint of the month.

“It will be the same magazine with a cover and most of the same columnists, but more colour and more interactivity, more links which will take you elsewhere.”

Fanzines have long transported football fans to very different places.

Everton has boasted a variety of fans’ titles since the fanzine culture erupted in the 1980s.

BlueBlood, Blue Wail, Satis?, Speke From The Harbour and Gwladys Sings The Blues have all been and gone.

But When Skies Are Grey, or WSAG as it is often abbreviated, has endured.

It has even spawned its own term for readers ... Wussagers.

“People ask us if we’re not leaving a gap in the market for someone else to exploit, and to be honest we’d welcome that,” added Graham.

“We’re all pushing 50 now and maybe the time’s right for someone younger to have a go.

“We have been thinking about this change for a long, long time but we finally made the decision last March.

“We’ve already got 100 subscriptions and the app has been downloaded 300 times – and that’s before we’ve even produced an issue.

“But the best thing has been the amount of goodwill we’ve had from people.

“The thing we have been most proud of down the years is that the magazine has given people the chance to say what they want to say about Everton Football Club.

“And there are plenty of people who have plenty to say. There’s St Vespaluus today and Frank McConville from the old days – and where else could Ray Kirwin have found an outlet for Laugh Along With The Loveable Reds?

“People still remember that cartoon and it hasn’t appeared for eight years!”

When Skies Are Grey has appeared for the past 25 years – and will continue to appear for the foreseeable future.